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Business Support

Small Business Resources

Main Street Hanover is working to expand the economic capacity of downtown Hanover, with the goals of improving the business environment, enhancing the quality of place and increasing community synergy. We welcome you and your business and look forward to a collaborative relationship full of success and growth. Here in Hanover, we have access to a variety of resources that assist small businesses. From starting a business to succession planning, marketing, financing and anything in between, there are resources for you to manage the ins-and-outs of running a small business.

General Business Consulting

LOCAL RESOURCES, PROFOUND SUCCESS

Below are some of the local resources that offer general business consulting:

Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

The Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) provide education and no-cost consulting services to entrepreneurs and small business owners. The SBDC is ready to help you grow your business. The SBDC’s one-on-one management consulting emphasizes education and guidance in finding practical solutions to business problems. Consulting is confidential and provided at no-charge by a staff of skilled professionals.

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Susquehanna SCORE

The Susquehanna, Pennsylvania Chapter of SCORE is part of a national nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of the nation’s small businesses. Susquehanna SCORE has provided free and confidential business mentoring since 1979, tailored to meet the needs of emerging and growing businesses and small business owners’ personal objectives. We see an average of 45 companies for individual mentoring from York and Adams Counties each month. More than half of them return to SCORE multiple times as their businesses launch and they reach new milestones of growth and development. Susquehanna SCORE volunteers are seasoned professionals, many of them actively involved in current ventures of their own, who donate thousands of hours to help small businesses succeed. Our mentors are experts in such areas as accounting, finance, marketing (including social media), food-based businesses, engineering, manufacturing, management and business planning. They undergo ongoing mentoring training and certification from the SCORE national association.

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U.S. Small Business Administration

Since its founding on July 30, 1953, the U.S. Small Business Administration has delivered millions of loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses. SBA provides assistances primarily through its four programmatic functions:

Access to Capital
SBA provides small businesses with an array of financing for small businesses from the smallest needs in microlending – to substantial debt and equity investment capital (venture capital).

Entrepreneurial Development
SBA provides free individual face-to-face, and internet counseling for small businesses, and low-cost training to nascent entrepreneurs and established small businesses in over 1,800 locations throughout the United States and US territories.

Government Contracting
In keeping with the mandate of Section 15(g) of the Small Business Act, SBA’s Office of Government Contracting sets goals with other federal departments and agencies to reach the statutory goal of 23 percent in prime contract dollars to small businesses. This office also provides small businesses with subcontracting procurement opportunities, outreach programs, and training.

Advocacy
Created in 1978, this Office reviews Congressional legislation and testifies on behalf of small business. It also assesses the impact of the regulatory burden on behalf of small businesses. Additionally, it conducts a vast array of research on American small businesses and the small business environment. The Chief Counsel of this office is appointed by the President of the United States.SBA’s suite of tools can help you at any stage of your business venture. From initial counseling and business planning to contracting with the government and finding seminars to grow your business – there’s something for every entrepreneur to get the help they need. Let us help you find what you’re looking for today.

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Specialized Support

Additional Resources

Another tool Main Street Hanover has created is the Hanover New Business Manual. This Manual will: Introduce you to Main Street Hanover, help you understand the basic steps to plan and open your business, provide you with information to guide you in your decision making process , and help you manage the business development process so you open quickly and efficiently. Also newly available is our Business Recruitment Brochure. It contains some demographic information of our community as well as local business success stories. For additional resources, including industry specific resources and more specialized support, please visit the Small Business Info Center found on the York County Economic Alliance website for helpful links to organizations who are able to offer guidance that will help you reach your business goals.

New Business Manual
Business Recruitment Brochure
Community Profile

Hanover at the Tip of Your Fingers

Discover what else Hanover has to offer during your visit.

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Image Warchime-Myers Mansion
Heart of Hanover

The Myers Mansion was built over a period of three years, beginning in 1911, as the residence of Clinton N. Myers of Hanover Shoe Company. William Warehime generously donated the Warehime-Myers Mansion at 305 Baltimore Street in Hanover, its contents and the grounds to the Hanover Area Historical Society along with an endowment for the conservation of the properties. Mr. Warehime grew up across the street from the Myers Mansion and had long admired the neo-classical structure. The mansion remained in the Myers family until 1997 when Mr. Warehime purchased it from Molly Powl Myers, a granddaughter, who lived in Montana.

Learn more about the mansion and how to visit here.

Image Hanover's Healing Touch
Civil War Trails

Pleasant Hill Hotel became a makeshift hospital during the period following the Battle of Hanover and the Battle of Gettysburg.  That building stood beside the current mansion location on Baltimore St.

Image Hanover Area History Museum
Places of Interest

The new museum is home to hundreds of unique items, covering some 300 years of local history, and is the culmination of thousands of hours of research and development by a small, but dedicated team of volunteers. From the tale of Digges’ Choice in the 1720s to an entire display dedicated to the beloved summertime Forest Park, the museum takes guests on a journey that is structured both by time period and topic. Major themes covered include local religion, language, education, transportation and manufacturing.

Find more information along with how to visit here.

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Image Stuart's Fruitless Odyssey
Heart of Hanover

After disengaging from the Union cavalry in the late afternoon of June 30, Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry division left Hanover. Stuart and his men embarked upon a half.-circle odyssey south then northeast around town while Stuart's rear guard, did not depart Hanover until after dark. The next day, July 1, Stuart and a portion of his exhausted troops advanced to Carlisle searching for supplies and information. Some historians contend that Lee suffered an "information blackout" during the first two days of the Battle of Gettysburg, thereby depriving Confederates of strategic high points and information during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Image Confederates Invade Free Soil
Civil War Trails

By June 29, Stuart had reached Union Mills, dangerously out of touch with Lee. Stuart had captured 125 Union wagons carrying provisions, along with 600 mules saddled with supplies, all of which bogged down his progress and kept him far away from Lee.

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Image Heroics of the Union Cavalry
Heart of Hanover

To some, the nameless, stoic picket on horseback on the Hanover Square symbolizes the dignity and honor of the cavalry, and the vigilance of every day, tough--and--tumble Union soldiers.

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Image Profiles in Union Cavalry Courage
Heart of Hanover

Capturing two prisoners and a Confederate battle flag south of town in this vicinity, Private Burke was the first Medal of Honor Recipient for valor in a Civil War battle on free soil. Read all the profiles by visiting the marker.

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Image Center of the Storm
Heart of Hanover

In 1863, charming brick and wooden homes lined both sides of Frederick Street from Center Square to the Winebrenner Tannery and the Karl Forney Farm. This are became the turbulent center of confusion during the battle as cavalrymen from New York and Pennsylvania fight face.-to.-face against those from North Carolina and Virginia.

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Image Search and Destroy, Hide and Seek
Heart of Hanover

In many towns like Hanover, rail depots also were telegraph headquarters. Hanover's was on present-day Railroad Street. Three days before the Battle of Hanover, Confederate Lt. Col. Elijah White's men were on a mission: search for and destroy Pennsylvania railroad bridges and telegraph lines.

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Image Hospitality Before Hostility
Heart of Hanover

Joanna Wrentzel (née Thomas), of Hanover, wrote “The morning of the battle I went to the square with a wash basket of bread and a kettle of apple butter and helped feed the soldiers that were coming into Hanover. The soldiers were awful tired and hungry and were glad to get the food people were giving them.” Visit DiscoverHanoverPA.org for more information.

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Image Trailblazing Writers Leader, Long, and Prowell
Heart of Hanover

On these first blocks of Frederick Street lived pioneering newspaperwoman Mary Sophia Leader (1835--1913), famous author John Luther Long (1861--1927), and historian George Reeser Prowell (1849--1928), all buried one mile south of here in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

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Image Hanover's Underground Railroad Conductors
Heart of Hanover

Just north of the Mason--Dixon line, the divide between states where slavery was legal and free states like Pennsylvania, Hanover was a logical stop on the Underground Railroad.

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Image Union Strikes Back
Heart of Hanover

As the Union reclaimed the square for good, Kilpatrick ordered troops, with the help of citizens, to barricade streets with barrels, farm wagons, dry goods boxes, and other materials to provide cover.

This pen drawing depicts what a barricade would have looked like as it is a depiction of a similar event in Baltimore, MD.

Image Fate of the Nation
Civil War Trails

In 1887, Union Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, writing of the Gettysburg Campaign, asserted that “Hanover saved the fate of the nation.” It is of the Battle of Hanover that he spoke.

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Image High Noon in Hanover
Heart of Hanover

As the battle continued into the mid-day, both sides maneuvered their cannons into place to support their soldiers efforts. Both sides exchanged cannon fire for up to two hours.  Artillery units would have looked similar to this photograph of a Union Field Artillery Unit in position.

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Image Neas House
Places of Interest

The historic Neas House at Chestnut and High Streets in Hanover is a Georgian residence built around 1783 by Mathias Neas, a tanner who acquired six lots from his brother, George Neas, in November 1782.

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Image Aftermath and Stench of Death
Heart of Hanover

York County produced more than 6,200 soldiers in the Civil War. While no final tally is possible, the number of county men who died from war wounds and disease was as high as 900. Hanover's Mount Olivet Cemetery alone has at least 235 Union graves.

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Image Titans of Hanover Industry
Heart of Hanover

Varied industries, such as foundries; distillers; and coal, lumber and hemp rope distributors, bought or rented parcels within the Commons. The Commons roughly extended from Railroad Street to the west, North Street to the north, and Chestnut Street to the east.

For more information on current industry leaders, visit the Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce and read about their apprenticeship program in the area through partnerships with local manufacturers.

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Image Warfare Engulfs Downtown
Heart of Hanover

Downtown saw heavy fighting as the battle of Hanover erupted in this area – hand-to-hand combat broke out amid gunfire, shrieks, and shouts.

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Image Hanover Market House
Places of Interest

Open every Saturday morning the Hanover Market House on E. Chestnut St. was constructed in 1933 and has been there ever since. 

Originally operating in Center Square, the original open-air market building was often mistaken as a misplaced covered bridge.  The structure featured the town’s only jail cell below ground level.  The market operated in this open air structure from 1815 to 1872.

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Image Lincoln Plaque
Places of Interest

This plaque memorialized the visit of President Lincoln to Hanover on his journey to Gettysburg to deliver the famous ‘Gettysburg Address’.

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Image Commons on Locomotives
Heart of Hanover

Hanover’s first industrial park was built around the railroad lines in the late 19th century. The area known as the ‘Hanover Commons’ helped shape the town’s future as a community of entrepreneurs and family businesses.

Image Working on the Railroad
Heart of Hanover

There is no doubt that Hanover’s access to rail lines helped position it as a hub of industry and innovation. The businesses in Hanover thrived with access to major metropolitan areas.

Image Lincoln in Hanover
Civil War Trails

President Lincoln’s stop at the Hanover Branch Railroad station was a cause for great celebration in the town. Many went gather for a glimpse at the President as he traveled to Gettysburg, where he delivered his address the next day.

For more information about the Gettysburg Address or Lincoln’s stop in Hanover visit: Battlefields.org

Image Guthrie Memorial Public Library
Places of Interest

The Guthrie Memorial Library, Hanover’s Public Library, is a welcoming environment representing education, recreation, and progress. The library forms a cultural connection that joins people through text, technology and meeting spaces. Visit YorkLibraries.org.

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